Fire chief: I-78 pileup worst I've ever seen

Bunker Hill Fire Chief Rick Kreitzer talks about the Interstate 78 pileup as the worst accident he has seen in his 31 years in the fire service on Sunday, February 14, 2016.(Photo: Jeremy Long, Lebanon Daily News)

The crash, which officials blamed on low visibility caused by blowing snow, occurred at mile marker 7.5 in Bethel Township and involved 64 vehicles, including 12 tractor-trailers, and resulted in three deaths and 73 people transported to 11 area hospitals for injuries.

The injured were taken to Penn State Hershey Medical Center and WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital, Reading Hospital and Saint Joseph Medical Center in Berks County, Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, Holy Spirit Hospital in Camp Hill, Schuylkill Regional Medical Center in Pottstown and multiple hospitals in the Pinnacle Health network in the Harrisburg area.

“We received 13 victims, and of those 13, we have discharged seven of them,” Megan Manlove, Penn State Hershey Medical Center spokesperson, said. “Of the remaining six, one is still in critical condition, four are in fair condition and one is in good condition.”

“Six patients were brought in to us,” Cindy Stauffer, Senior Media Relations and Communications Specialist for WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital, said. “Five of them were treated and released. One was transferred to Penn State Hershey Medical Center.”

Mile marker 7.7 in the westbound lane of Interstate 78 lies along the side road on Sunday, February 14, 2016 where a massive 64-vehicle accident occurred on Saturday, February 13, 2016 killing three people and injuring 73 more.(Photo: Jeremy Long, Lebanon Daily News)

Reading Hospital reported nine patients from the crash with seven discharged and two in good condition. Lehigh Valley reported 17 patients who were treated for minor injuries, and Pinnacle Health reported 10 patients in their network with eight being treated and discharged and two who had to be admitted to a hospital. Attempts to contact Saint Joseph Medical Center, Holy Spirit Hospital and Schuylkill Regional Medical Center were unsuccessful.

A multitude of fire departments and ambulances from Lebanon, Berks and Lancaster counties responded to the crash, including four emergency helicopters.

“We rolled up on the scene at the same time as Jonestown Rescue, and we pretty much jumped out and started working together,” Kreitzer said. “There were people entrapped, and we all just started doing our thing.”

Bunker Hill typically has to cut five or six people out of vehicles each year, according to Kreitzer, but he and his crew had to cut that many people out of their vehicles during this single incident, he said.

“We cut a tractor-trailer tractor open to get a guy out, and we just let the doors open and we relayed that back to command that we were going to let doors open to show that the vehicle was searched,” Kreitzer said. “Then we had yellow ribbons we were tying on cars during our second or third sweep through to show that they were thoroughly searched.”

For tractor-trailers, initially only the front seats were checked, Kreitzer said, but the second time through, rescue personnel climbed in each cab to make sure there was nobody in the sleeper area.

Cars travel in the area of Interstate 78 on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016 where a massive 64 vehicle accident occurred on Saturday, February 13, 2016 killing three people and injuring 73 more.(Photo: Jeremy Long, Lebanon Daily News)

Bunker Hill and Jonestown Rescue were the first fire companies on scene according to Kreitzer, with Fredericksburg not far behind.

“Fredericksburg was on the way, but [they were] tied up in westbound traffic,” he said. “Fredericksburg’s chief directed us to travel westbound in the eastbound lane to get around the traffic and they said they’d get there as soon as they could.”

The crash occurring on the weekend was a good thing, according to Kreitzer.

“On a weekday, our crew probably would have been half of what we had on hand because people would have been at work,” he said. “The same for the other companies, too. The amount of people on scene would have been cut in half.”

With a good turnout of emergency personnel, Kreitzer reported that the crash was handled well, but he still thinks the incident should be analyzed to see how first responders could improve.

“Everything went really well, but it would be good if everyone involved got together and critiqued the response,” he said. “It would be good to get the State Police involved in that conversation, too.”